Hart spat and Kompany red card

MANUEL Pellegrini and Steve Bruce sought to play down a second–half spat between Joe Hart and Hull substitute George Boyd after 10–man Manchester City boosted their Barclays Premier League title bid with a 2–0 win at the KC Stadium.

David Silva and Edin Dzeko struck for City, who dropped to 10 players for 80 minutes after captain Vincent Kompany was red–carded for hauling down Tigers striker Nikica Jelavic.

Chelsea’s shock defeat at Aston Villa left Pellegrini’s men six points off the leaders with three games in hand.

But the win was tarnished by a 69th–minute clash between Hart and Boyd after the Hull man fell under Hart’s challenge in the box, with both men squaring up and a suggestion that Boyd may have spat in the goalkeeper's direction.

The Football Association will wait to see the referee’s report today before deciding whether charges will follow over the incident – which saw only Hart cautioned by referee Lee Mason – but while neither manager was aware of the specific charge against Boyd, they shrugged off the broader incident.

Pellegrini said it was “impossible” to see it properly from his position on the touchline, while Bruce described it as “handbags” before launching an impassioned defence of Boyd over suggestions he had dived in search of a penalty.

Kompany was dismissed for clearly preventing Jelavic from having a clean run on goal.